Former NFL tight end Kellen Winslow has been convicted of rape, and he’ll be retried on multiple additional rape charges later this year. The news apparently comes as no surprise to those who knew him during his time in the NFL.
Robert Klemko if SI.cim paints a graphic picture of Winslow’s sexual proclivities during his time in pro football.
“From his early years in Cleveland (2004-08), to his final NFL season in 2013 with the Jets, Winslow became known to co-workers as a compulsive masturbater and pornography enthusiast, according to two teammates and three former team officials,” Klemko writes. “He could count on having an empty seat next to him on any team flight, due to his ritual of watching hardcore pornography on his portable DVD player, according to those sources. On one occasion, an equipment manager tasked with delivering gear to lockers after hours walked in on Winslow masturbating at his locker, two seats away from the entrance, according to two team officials familiar with the incident.”
According to Klemko, Winslow watched porn during team meetings and at team hotels. Teammates didn’t want to share a hotel room with Winslow “because he watched pornography and masturbated openly, with no regard for who was in the room.”
Then there’s this one, from Klemko: “Later on in his career, after being sent to Tampa Bay via trade, Winslow acquired a life-sized silicone mold of a woman’s torso -- complete with vagina and anus -- to bring with him on road trips, according to one former assistant coach.”
None of that is illegal, and it doesn’t necessarily make Winslow a potential rapist. But people who know Winslow aren’t surprised that his perversions escalated to accusations and at least one conviction of rape.